But police in Israel say that Julie Pearson's death was not suspicious after she was subjected to a beating by her violent ex in November last year

Tragic: Julie was beaten up by her ex Hatib hours before she collapsed and died in Israel

Share

Get daily updates directly to your inbox

Thank you for subscribing!

Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email

The family of a Brit feared murdered in Israel have been stunned after police there said the death was not suspicious.

Julie Pearson, 38, was subjected to a serious beating by her violent ex Amjab Hatib, 31, hours before she collapsed and died on November 27 in the Red Sea resort of Eilat.

Her family were horrified when her badly bruised body was returned to Scotland in December, the Daily Record reports.

Now an email from British Embassy official Fatima Undre, based in Tel Aviv, has revealed that Israel’s forensic institute service have closed the case.

She told them: “Based on their tests and without the UK medical reports, they have concluded that although Julie was assaulted, she died of natural causes – internal bleeding in her stomach from a rare condition.”

Speaking out: Aunt Deborah Pearson is questioning Israeli police after they concluded she died of natural causes

Julie’s aunt Deborah Pearson, 55, of Blackburn, West Lothian, has just returned from Israel after confronting police about what she describes as a “shambolic investigation”.

She said: “There’s no way my niece died from natural causes. Apart from measles and the usual childhood ailments, Julie didn’t have an ill day in her life.

“Her body was covered in bruises – were they natural too?”

Julie’s family, backed by Prime Minister David Cameron and MP Hannah Bardell, demanded answers when she died in Eilat, where she lived for more than two years.

She was in the process of becoming an Israeli citizen, but her tourist visa expired and, technically, Julie was there illegally.

Last week, a witness revealed that police officers were called to Julie’s aid the night before she died after she had been beaten, punched and kicked in the stomach by Hatib, who served a month in jail last year for attacking her.